Share this:

Amnesty International - History

Amnesty International was founded in
1961 by Peter Benenson, a British lawyer. It was originally his
intention to launch an appeal in Britain with the aim of
obtaining an amnesty for prisoners of conscience all over the
world. The committee working for this cause soon found that a
detailed documentation of this category of prisoners would be
needed. Gradually they realized that the work would have to be
carried out on a more permanent basis; the number of prisoners of
conscience was enormous and they were to be found in every part
of the world.

Amnesty International is a world-embracing movement working for
the protection of human rights. It is independent of all
governments and is neutral in its relation to political groups,
ideologies and religious dividing lines. The movement works for
the release of women and men who have been arrested for their
convictions, the colour of their skin, their ethnic origin or
their faith - provided that they have not themselves used force
or exhorted others to resort to violence. It is this category of
prisoners that Amnesty International calls "prisoners of
conscience". The movement proclaimed 1977 "Prisoners of
Conscience Year" and collected signatures for an appeal addressed
to the General Assembly of the United Nations.

To begin with, Amnesty International was a British organization,
but in 1963 an international secretariat was established.
Seán Mac Bride - later
awarded the Nobel peace prize - became chairman of the
organization in 1963, at a time when Amnesty International was
rapidly expanding. Ten years after its foundation the
organization comprised more than 1000 voluntary groups in 28
countries and the figures are steadily rising. In February this
year (1977) there were 1874 groups in 33 countries. The present
chairman of Amnesty International is the Swede Thomas
Hammarberg.

In addition to its work for the prisoners of conscience - "the
forgotten prisoners" - Amnesty International has also carried on
campaigns against torture and ill-treatment as well as - in
recent years - against capital punishment. In the statutes
adopted by the organization in 1974 these three tasks are named
as the most important ones for Amnesty International.